Carbon Monoxide Leak Found At House Where 3 Died

FLINT (WWJ/AP) – It turns out a furnace is to blame for a carbon monoxide leak that killed a Flint couple and a young boy.

Police say 43-year-old LeTroy Edwards, 37-year-old Selena Carranza and 11-year-old Jayson Cobbin were found unresponsive in their home on Christmas morning. Edwards and Carranza were pronounced dead at the scene, while Jayson died at a local hospital. Several other people who were in different parts of the house managed to escape.

Dan Bishop, a Consumers Energy spokesman, said the leak occurred because the furnace’s boiler “was plugged with soot.”

“This is a tragic example of the importance of having your furnace inspected on an annual basis by a qualified contractor to make sure it is clean,” Bishop told Mlive.com.

Authorities haven’t released an official cause of death. Autopsy results are pending.

About 400 people die nationwide each year from carbon monoxide poisoning, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Carbon monoxide is created when something burns without an adequate supply of oxygen. It can come from defective furnaces or space heaters used with inadequate ventilation.